Hunter later apologised for the lack of a sprint finish. “Hey all, sorry for the non-sprint – team orders. We had to look after David Zabriskie in the circuits. We have got a serious chance of winning it,” he said on his Twitter feed.

“It’s very possible that was the last sprint finish, now all we have got to think aobut is how to keep DZ up there… gonna be interesting I tell you.”

Wet weather once again made for some crashes, including seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong came down in the closing stages but he was close enough to the finish to hold on to his finish and now lies in 18th, 27 seconds down.

Thursday’s fifth stage is precisely the same distance as Wednesday and will be ridden between Visali and Bakersfield.